An Apple for the Teacher
by Chou ni Natte
Summary: Sometimes in life you find someone who convinces you that there is an unlocked door just waiting for you to open it. Implied L x Light. AU.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own Death Note, and I make no profit from writing this.

Yagami Light always sat at the very front of the classroom, in the very middle desk across from the teacher's desk. The other students had no problem with it, as they tended to choose seats as far back as they could, even going so far as to pay each other off to switch seats sometimes. Light couldn't say he didn't know why.

L-sensei had some very odd quirks. First and most noticeable was his style of dress. He wore plain blue jeans that were a bit too long at the bottom, and a plain white cotton shirt that was a bit too loose on his skinny frame. Also, the man wore shoes as if he was a child, bent on wearing them however they wanted to if they had to at all. Every student but Light always held their breath when the teacher walked into the classroom, just knowing that any day now he would trip on his own untied shoestrings and crack his head open. Light knew the man was smarter than that though. He doubted death by tripping on a bit of string was on his list of ways to die.

L-sensei had unusual body features as well. His hair was black, medium length and a bit wild, as if he didn't brush it after he got up. His skin was slightly paler than normal, but what _really_ made him stand out were the bags under his eyes. No one would be surprised if he were to announce that he didn't sleep much or even at all. It was just an assumed fact. Besides those things, if it weren't enough to get a clear picture, the man was too thin, and had poor posture, as if it would hurt more to stand properly than to stand in his usual slightly hunched posture. When he sat, no one could deny his resemblance to that of a bat or bird. The man probably hadn't sat like a normal human being in years; with the way he seemed most used to it like a habit.

Not only did he have strange outward quirks; he had plenty of mental quirks to speculate about. L-sensei was never seen without some type of sugar confectionary. He also seemed to like Tea… and raw sugar in the form of cubes. Light disliked sweets and got nauseous watching the man eat one after another like a drug addict taking a hit.

The students were still occasionally brave enough to try and find out why their teacher didn't have a normal name, but L-sensei never gave in, not even seeming to care about his student's curiosity towards him.

These were all easy observations if you were in L-sensei's class. Simple facts of life, and still not the only reason why students tried to get as far away from his desk as they could.

"Now, it's time for Math. Please turn to page 234." L-sensei stood quite abruptly from his perched position on the desk chair. His own teacher's book was open on his desk, but he didn't look at it once as he walked to the blackboard and wrote down the first problem on the page.

"Nishihara-kun, please come solve this problem." The man suddenly pointed to a boy crouched low at his desk at the back of the classroom, leaving many students wondering how he'd turned around so fast and made his decision in that split second. This was an ongoing thing. The students were trying this week's tactic of getting the seats farther in the back. Failed again. They'd already tried this tactic once – as a matter of fact; it'd been the first one. Light wondered what they'd try next – skipping class altogether? That would be a first, and one Light was sure their parents wouldn't agree with.

Nishihara jumped as if caught with his pants down, but slowly and timidly slipping out of his chair and walked to the front of the room.

For several minutes, the class watched as he tried to solve the problem. Light watched L-sensei though. He did this a lot. He knew his flaws (this one being that he liked to stare at interesting people), so he wouldn't be embarrassed even if L-sensei looked back. Call it narcissism, but he'd noticed since the very beginning of High School when he'd entered the classroom and met the man that they were kindred spirits. He never tried talking to the man one on one alone though, as he was just a High Schooler, and what teacher wanted to get involved with one of their students? Light fully understood this, and did what any young intelligent man would do. He took to observing his teacher as much as he could. Hey, you do what works, even if the other students take to avoiding you as well.

"Sorry Nishihara-kun, that is incorrect." L-sensei said blankly, not even having to point to Nishihara's seat for the boy to know that he was dismissed. The class cringed along with the distraught boy and Light thought they would have crossed their fingers, hoping not to get called on themselves, if they didn't already know what was to happen next.

This was another thing Light liked about the man. He didn't seem to care one way or another what anyone felt. Light wished he could drop his own frequent polite mask. His life proved that it wasn't always a free ride, being the son of a Police Chief and born with superior intelligence.

"Yagami-kun, why don't you show us the proper way to solve this problem."

Light brought his eyes back into focus from staring at L-sensei's feet. One had been scratching the other's ankle, lifting the pant leg slightly to expose a pale expanse of skin. Light often wondered what L's feet looked like, hidden in those shoes. Now, he would admit to a slight obsession with his teacher, but he wasn't admitting to any fetishes. A slight cough from before him reminded Light of where he was.

"Of course, sensei." He said smoothly, sliding elegantly out of his chair and picking up the offered piece of chalk.

In less than a minute, Light had completed the problem. Everything was easy, but to Light, Math was like eating or bathing. He did it without much thought. He turned to L-sensei to hand the chalk back, and saw that the man was staring at him with his thumb in his mouth. This wasn't an unusual occurrence either, but Light had never seen the man do it while looking at anyone but him. He'd come to deduce that it was a thinking gesture.

Light tried not to be too happy about it, as once, he had been admonished for staring at said thumb for too long and had been embarrassed. Luckily, that was two years ago and probably long forgotten by everyone. Except he'd just bet that L-sensei had a super memory to go along with his super brain. Oh yes, Light had discovered L-sensei's deep dark secret. Only, it wasn't so dark as much as intriguing.

L-sensei wrote novels under the pen name 'Ryuuzaki'. It was mostly mystery novels, but Light had long ago (and still) devoured every single one of them, in quick succession. They were the best things Light had ever read, and knew that the only reason critics scorned them was because not many people were smart enough to understand them.

"Very good as always, Yagami-kun. Did everyone understand that?" L-sensei turned to the class in question. The students just stared at the problem on the board, probably too afraid to annoy the man if they answered no.

This happened frequently. That's why no student wanted to be called on in this class.

'Idiots.' Light doubted any one of these students could get a rise out of the man – even himself. L-sensei was like a blank page. You could scribble all over it, but its composition wouldn't change.

"Okay. I'll show you, slowly this time."

Light sat back in his seat and commenced with his stare-time.

The rest of the day passed as usual, and Light had even discovered something new about his intriguing teacher. The older man liked fruit. He had discovered this during lunchtime when another teacher had offered him a grape. He had accepted it and eaten it without making a face (Light had only seen him do that once, when biting into real food for once). L-sensei never accepted things he didn't like. Light himself was keen on health, so it was nice to know that the man he admired could at least eat something that was good for him.

An idea began to form in Light's mind. A way to make L-sensei look at him in a different light, so to say.

The rest of the day was spent recalling what he knew of a certain fruit.

The day ended quickly, and for once Light was glad for it. He stopped at the teacher's desk as usual. He was always last to leave – not just purposely, but because the students rushed to escape as soon as possible.

"See you tomorrow, L-san." Light gave him the smile he reserved only for people he considered worthy. L shuffled his feet, something Light noted as a nervous or uncomfortable gesture, and hovered by his desk.

"Ah, yes, see you tomorrow Yagami-kun." Light nodded and left. He'd seen students practically beg for praise from teachers in these types of situations, but Light didn't need what the man had already given him. L didn't hand out compliments often, so even a simple 'good' sufficed. Besides, Light didn't need someone else to tell him that he was smart.

On the way home, Light stopped by a vendor and bought a bag of fresh, shiny fruit, and couldn't resist eating one for himself. Juice spilled over onto his chin, and he idly swiped it off with a finger and licked it. Delicious.

Light was even earlier to school the next morning. L always came a bit early as well, probably to warm his seat up. When Light arrived, he was always reading something. Light usually read as well, but this morning he had a gift to give.

"Good morning L-san. I trust you slept well last night?" A fine line of sarcasm ran through that last sentence. L looked up from his book and blinked at the boy standing beside him.

"Good morning, Yagami-kun. You've arrived even earlier than usual this morning." He greeted calmly, not responding to the last part, though no doubt he'd heard it quite clearly. The slight rise at the corner of his mouth said so.

"You're right. That's because I brought you something today." Light admitted, giving a small smile when L showed slight surprise. "I know sweets are more your thing, but I've noticed that you've lost some more weight this year. So…" Light reached into the bag hanging on his shoulder and brought out a small round object wrapped in soft tissue. L's eyes were glued to it, and Light felt a trill of happiness. Making the man show any emotion at all was a win in his book, and he'd done it twice in the span of minutes.

The man gingerly took the object from Light's hands, their fingers brushing slightly. The wrap wasn't that big or anything, it was just to protect the fruit inside.

L stared at the bright round fruit cupped in his hands. It was probably the only thing Light hadn't seen the man hold as if it was contaminated and he had to keep it from touching him as much as possible.

"An Apple a day keeps the doctor away, right? You should take care of yourself more, L-san."

"An Apple…" L murmured, looking at said apple as if he'd never seen one before. Light briefly wondered if it was possible, but quickly discarded the silly idea. The man's favorite fruit was Strawberries, and they had to come from somewhere where other fruits were.

"I hope it's okay. I wasn't sure if you'd like apples, even though you seem to like grapes." Light shrugged slightly, slipping his hands into his pockets and looking down at his shoes, trying to hide the slight flush on his face. This was the first time he'd seriously give someone he liked a gift, even if it was such as thing as an apple, which would be gone forever once eaten. It was a surprise for him to feel blush like that.

But Light had done his research, and had to force back the smirk threatening to overtake the blush at what he'd found on apple symbolism.

L was staring up at him now, mouth biting thumb. Light would bet that the man didn't realize he was doing it.

Could he know that, besides being called a forbidden fruit, it had also been used in a painting depicting one man offering another an apple in what was thought of as sexual innuendo? Like in the painting, L had taken the apple freely from his hands. Light didn't mean anything crude by it though. The term 'the Apple of my eye' came from the Bible, and it meant an object or person greatly valued. It was also a symbol of sensuality or beauty in some works.

"That was very thoughtful of you, Light-kun." Light's eyebrows rose at the use of his first name, and by the older man's expression, he was surprised that it had slipped out as well.

"Just take of yourself, that's all I'd like." Light smiled gently, closing his eyes. He felt more at piece with this strange, silent man than he did with anyone else. Sometimes he wished he were older, so he could be proper acquaintances with the teacher. Oh, he had plans, but they couldn't take effect until the end of his third year, when he completed High School.

After another moment of enjoying the congenial silence, Light went to his usual seat and took his book out. This week it was a novel about a war between four nations. Light found himself sympathizing with the bad guy. Usually it was the good guy, or misguided guy, as he was sure this case was. He even had a cool scar…

So caught up in the story was he, that he didn't notice L's stare directed at his face. Light didn't start his own staring until later in the day, so he had no reason to look up, assuming the teacher was reading as well as per usual.

About thirty minutes later, the other students arrived and Light put away his book after memorizing the page. When he looked up to see where L was, he was surprised to see the Apple sitting at the front of the desk, as if in display. It gave him an odd warm sensation in his stomach. Maybe his breakfast earlier had upset his stomach. Shrugging, Light automatically slipped into stare-mode.

Surprisingly, L was playing the game today as well. Light was normally confident in it, guessing that L knew what he was doing but the man never said anything. Now that he was being stared back at, usually anytime the students were bent over a problem or their homework, Light couldn't stare into the other man's eyes for long before he had to look down. He never backed down from a challenge, but this seemed different from Tennis or tests. It was if something bad would happen if he continued to stare, like maybe he'd burn up from the inside, no matter how irrational and silly it sounded.

'I'm being ridiculous.' Light decided and went back to checking over his work just in case that 0.1 of messing up happened today of all days.

However, not five minutes later his eyes drifted back up to seek black. The older man was staring at some point on his desk, allowing Light to give in and stare himself. As if feeling the probing gaze on him, L snapped his eyes straight to Light's face. The younger man had propped his chin into his hand, so couldn't look away without dislodging himself quite obviously. So he stared back.

It wasn't awkward. It wasn't embarrassing or unusual feeling. To Light, it felt like nothing he'd ever felt before while staring at someone else. Usually it was in polite disinterest or agreement, but this time it felt like he was being dipped into L's soul. It wasn't as unpleasant as he thought the thought sounded. In fact, he might even be lulled to sleep by it. If the man could only look himself in the eye, he would be able to fall asleep at night…

"Yagami-kun… I think you should save sleeping for nighttime. Yagami-kun." The familiar voice startled Light awake from his light stupor and he forced himself not to rub his eyes, though he couldn't help but blink sleepily for a second. L was standing in front of his desk, leaning his back against the podium at the front of the room and staring down at him. Light swore he could detect a faint hint of amusement in the man's eyes.

"Ah, sorry sensei, it won't happen again." Light rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. A few students snickered behind his back, but Light ignored them.

"It's fine. Now, shall we continue where we left off in Math yesterday?"

Once class was over, Light said his usual goodbye and prepared to leave. Before he could leave, however, a grip on his shirtsleeve stopped him. Light looked down at L's hand in surprise. He didn't think he'd seen the man willingly touch anyone before, even their clothes. Accidental brushes not included.

"I just wanted to say thank you, for the apple." Light's mouth opened slightly in surprise. The man looked really sincere, not blank as usual. Light suddenly felt like he was the one to receive a gift.

"You're welcome. I'm glad you liked it, though it's just an apple." Light unconsciously put a hand lightly over his mouth to cover his expression. He didn't know what it was, but he'd never felt it before and was worried at how it looked.

"Maybe." L replied, and Light was floored to see him smile at Light. Light quickly stored away the image to be kept for all eternity.

Was there a gleam in the other man's eye just then as well? Light couldn't be certain… but maybe the man had realized that Light, with his intelligence, wouldn't leave at 'it's just an apple'.

As Light walked home that day, he couldn't stop thinking of L's face when he received the apple, and his smile when he'd thanked Light after class.

If Light was right, the man had gotten the message – whether it was that he admired the man or thought he was beautiful, it didn't matter.

Days passed. For the most part, it was the same as the days before, but Light could detect a change in the air around him and L. It was if they'd grown closer, yet something more was going to happen.

One the sixth day, which Light was actually excited to see (as he had been all week), he arrived thirty minutes early as usual. He was quite surprised, however, when L wasn't there. He'd obviously been there earlier, as there was a half eaten donut sitting on the desk. Light wasn't sure what surprised him more – that L was not in the classroom for the first time in three years when Light arrived, or that he had not finished his donut. As the man was a sugar addict, Light was leaning towards the latter.

Light shrugged after a minute more of staring, then sat down to read.

It wasn't ten minutes later that the teacher finally walked in, carrying a small bag at his side. He walked directly to Light's seat without even having to check if he was there or not.

"L-san, I wondered where you went." Light smiled and sat his book down. The older man didn't reply, just pulled something out of the unlabeled bag.

A green apple was held out and offered to him silently. To anyone else, this would look – well, okay, not normal, because when did a _teacher_ give a _student _an apple? It would look odd no matter what. But to Light, it was clear as day that something more was taking place.

Without hesitation, he gently received the apple from L's hands.

No thanks were needed, if he was reading the situation right, but Light felt too gratified to leave it at that.

Light raised the apple to his lips and took a bite. The flavor immediately filled his mouth, and he closed his eyes in appreciation. He didn't eat green apples often, as they were kind of hard to find around this area. L must have gone a little ways to get it for him. More proof that this was no normal exchange.

A sliver of juice spilled over Light's lips, and he automatically reached up to wipe it off. Before he'd even lifted the hand off the desk, however, L's hand shot forward and caught the liquid. Then, as if it was the most natural thing ever, he put the finger to his lips and licked it off. Light forgot about his apple completely and stared. L's lips were wet from the saliva and juice. Light's stomach did flip flops and his mind decided to take a trip elsewhere for a while until L tapped his shoulder.

"I suggest you finish your Apple before class, or everyone might get jealous." Light looked up in time to catch the wry grin on the man's face before he turned to walk to his desk. Even the teacher was aware of how the students felt about him. Light could care less about what they'd think, content as he was, but he finished off the Apple, licking his own fingers off this time. That didn't mean he didn't think of L's at the time, though. Or for the rest of the class, or any others for that matter…

L had gotten his message in the end, and had returned it. Of course, teenage doubts briefly tried to convince him that the teacher had no idea what Light had meant at all, and Light was only embarrassing himself by continuing to believe the gifts had meant much more. But Light knew his own intelligence enough to recognize it in L, someone who was a lot like himself (except for their choice of foods).

Chances are the man had given the apple to Light to show that there was hope for some kind of future together, and Light would be ready when that time came.


End file.
